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Umatilla Officer Part Of Award Winning SWAT Team

    The Lake County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team recently shined in an international competition, finishing fourth overall at a competition that included teams from all over America and beyond.
    The eight-member competition team consists of members of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, as well as officers from police departments in Eustis, Tavares, and Umatilla.  Umatilla officer Jeffery McNeal is on the team, and was recognized last week by department chief David Seeley.
    2025 Swat Round-up was held in Orlando in early November, with Lake County’s entry competing in a variety of physical events, as well as marksmanship competitions.  With a third place finish in one competition and an overall fourth place finish, Lake County posted its best results in decades.
    It was the first year McNeal had participated in the competition, and said the high finish was the result of steady training followed by an intense prep schedule leading up to the competition.
    “We took off two weeks prior just to train,” he said this week.
    During the competition, participants work as a team in a variety of skills tests that are relevant to the type of situations they could face while responding to an emergency.  As an example, in the competition that saw the team finish third overall, physical obstacles followed by marksmanship stations were required.
    “It’s all based on times and accuracy,” McNeal said.  “It was a lot.”